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I Was a Kaleidoscope Lyrics
I put on my overcoat and walked into winter
My teeth chattered rhythms
And they were grouped in twos or threes
Like a morse code message was sent from me to me
Cars on slippery slopes, they're stuck
People pushing through their mittens
As I was beginning to feel it soaking through my shoes
Getting colder with every step I took to your apartment, dear
And I was a kaleidoscope:
The snow on my lenses distorting the image
Of what was only one of you
And I didn't know which one to address
As all your lips moved
This is when I forget breathe
All the things I scripted, they sound unfounded
And the look that you're giving me
It tells me exactly what you are thinking:
"This ain't working anymore"
They got their mothers worked into a panic
Sledding down hills into oncoming traffic
The parents layered clothes until the children couldn't move
Then kept them outside until their noises were blue
And I got left there, too
I put on my overcoat and walked into winter
My teeth chattered rhythms
And they were grouped in twos or threes
Like a morse code message was sent from me to me
Song Info
Submitted by
jephque On Dec 04, 2001
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This song just kicks so much ass. There's no other way of putting it. The tunes upbeat, and the musics happy, even as the lyrics and imagery get progressively sadder and more bleak. This sort of song writing is exactly what popular music is missing...
It's about the narrator walking through the snow to his girlfriend's apartment and failing in his attempt to save the relationship. I think the Morse code in his chattering teeth is like his subconscious warning him that this will not go well. He mentions getting cold feet from walking through the snow, but it also means he is getting "cold feet," as in being nervous about what he has to do. When he finally talks to her, he is so nervous that his vision seems like a kaleidoscope, and even the things he planned to say don't seem to make any sense. So she breaks up with him, and leaves him out in the cold, both literally and figuratively. The repeating of the first verse is now about him walking back to his own house, with the Morse code message probably telling himself something along the lines of, "I told you so."
Maybe the kaleidoscope refers to how his image of the relationship was distorted...He thought it was going better than it actually was. I love "My teeth chattered rhythms... Like a morse code message was sent from me to me" :)
Ever hear a song and wonder if they wrote it for you? Well, except for the overcoat...change that to peacoat.
amen
oh man, this song is just amazing.
Once you find the lyrics, this song becomes much more. And because it was fantastic previously, that makes it... fantastic. Death Cab for Cutie definitly have mastered the art of lyrics in music
I can't help but sing this song at times, but I always have to stop when people start hitting me.. my voice doesn't compare to Gibbard's unfortunately..
Gibbard's is just one of the great song writers, lyrically, of our time... what bugs me about this song is that beautiful part right in the middle "this is when I forget to breath.....tells me exactly what you are thinking...." it's lovely and romantic and then he hits us so non-chellantly(sp?) with "this ain't working anymore"---pow!! oh Ben...
who friggen doesn't like Kaleidoscope?